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Excellence in Every Detail. Legacy for Generations.

(214) 912-4321 Request a Consultation
(214) 912-4321 Request a Consultation
(214) 912-4321 Request a Consultation

Services · No. 04

Upholstery. Down to the Frame.

Down to the frame and back up again, in your fabric or leather, or one chosen with you.

Upholstery is a structure rather than a cushion, and every layer depends on the one beneath it. A seat that has gone soft in the middle is usually failing somewhere underneath where it shows. Re-upholstery here means the covering comes off, whatever has given up beneath it is put right, and the seat is rebuilt from there rather than padded over.

Seats are re-caned by hand where the frame is drilled for it, and rush is rewoven in the pattern the piece was made for. Fabric comes from you or is chosen with you, and leather is cut and fitted for pieces that were always leather. The frame is checked and tightened before any covering goes back on, because upholstery stretched over a loose frame pulls itself apart from the inside.

From the shop

Related Work

Before: two carved oak-coloured armchairs with barley-twist legs, their upholstery torn away to bare hessian and stuffing spilling onto the floor. After: the same two chairs re-covered in a cream fabric with a green and rust crewel vine pattern, the frames cleaned and glowing.

Pair of Barley-Twist Armchairs

Upholstery

Two carved armchairs, stuffing hanging out of both, re-covered in a crewel-pattern fabric.
Before: a carved rocking chair with a cane back and a cane seat broken through in the centre, standing on a garage floor. After: the same rocker in front of a fireplace with a new hand-woven cane seat and the original back.

Cane-Back Rocker

Caning

Seat cane gone through in the middle. Rewoven by hand, and the back left as it was.
Before: a small channel-back settee in faded, torn beige fabric with the skirt hanging loose, in a garage. After: the same settee re-covered in a red and gold paisley fabric, the channelled back crisp and the cushions plump, in front of a tiled fireplace.

Channel-Back Settee

Upholstery

Faded and torn, re-covered in a red paisley with the channelled back rebuilt.
Before: a dark side chair with a green leather seat torn open to the padding and worn arms. After: the same chair in new green leather with a scalloped apron and brass nail trim.

Green Leather Side Chair

Upholstery

Seat torn through to the padding. Re-covered in green leather with the brass nailing redone.
Before: the bare wooden frame of an oval-back armchair with no upholstery at all, against a plywood wall. After: the same chair with the frame refinished and the back, arms and seat upholstered in a cream and gold striped fabric.

Oval-Back Armchair

Upholstery

Down to the bare frame. Built back up and covered in a striped silk.
Before: a side chair in worn striped fabric with its seat webbing collapsed and springs hanging below the rail. After: two matching chairs re-covered in a navy and gold damask with brass nail trim, on a wood floor.

Pair of Side Chairs

Upholstery

Springs hanging out of one, both re-covered in a navy damask with brass nailing.
Before: a wingback armchair in worn ivory fabric with carved wooden arms, beside a fireplace. After: the same chair re-covered in a fresh ivory damask with brass nail trim along every edge.

Wingback Armchair

Upholstery

Re-covered in an ivory damask, with the carved arms cleaned and the nailing replaced.
Before: a dining table and ladder-back chairs with torn plaid seats in a garage. After: the same set with the table refinished and the chairs re-covered in cream, on a red patterned rug.

Ladder-Back Dining Set

Upholstery

Table refinished, chairs re-covered in a cream fabric to match.
Before: a set of cane-back dining chairs painted white with worn tan seats, on a concrete floor. After: the same chairs refinished a dark brown with new patterned seats around a dining table under a chandelier.

Cane-Back Dining Chairs

Upholstery

A set of painted cane-back chairs refinished dark and given new seats.
Before: a bentwood rocking chair with a cane back and a cane seat broken through, in a cluttered workshop. After: the same rocker with a new hand-woven cane seat and a refinished frame, in front of a fireplace.

Cane Rocking Chair

Caning

Seat cane broken through. Rewoven by hand and the frame refinished.

See the full gallery

Also in the shop

Other Services

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Send photographs of the piece

The whole piece, then the damage close up, then any maker’s mark or label. Call the shop in Wylie or send them over, and we will tell you what upholstery would involve.

Request a Consultation (214) 912-4321